Found by Shadow
by FirenIce15
Summary: Baby Rand is found by Ishamael and raised to serve the shadow. Will Matt, Perrin and the rest be able to turn him to the Light or is that Last Battle already lost?
1. Chapter 1

Found by Shadow

Summary: Ishamael finds Rand on Dragonmount instead of Tam and raises him to become the shadow's champion. Can Mat, Perrin, and the others turn him to the light or has the Last Battle been lost before it's even been fought.

Pairings: currently undecided

Rating: T

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own.

Ishamael wasn't entirely certain why he had come here. Dragonmount, the place where Lewis Therin had turned his precious one power on himself after realizing he had killed his beloved wife and his entire family. He'd offered to give the dragon his wife back, it was a simple enough thing for the Great Lord to do (he was the lord of the grave after all), he didn't do it often but if it got the dragon to serve him, he was certain the Great Lord would not object. He'd been sure this offer would tempt the dragon and that he would finally turn to the shadow but instead the kin slayer had chosen to take his own life. It was something Ishamael still didn't fully understand after more than 3,000 years. In the end, it didn't matter Lews Theirn had only delayed the Great Lord's ultimate triumph but it was inevitable.

Abruptly, he heard something that sounded like a crying baby, his curiosity was peaked, and he followed the sound. Eventually, she found a woman, one of those so-called Aiel Maidens of the Spear, she was dead most likely from child birth. In her arms she held a baby hastily wrapped in a blanket, the baby was the source of the noise, he was crying up a storm. Ishamael turned to leave, he didn't care what happened to the baby, but a sudden thought stopped him in his tracks, could this boy be the dragon reborn? He and his followers had been searching for the dragon for 3,000 years with no success what so ever. He had memorized the Karaethon Cycle even though those prophecies were wrong, it never hurt to know what the enemy believed and they were the only clue he had regarding the circumstances of the Dragon's rebirth that particular passage ran through his mind "On the slopes of Dragonmount shall he be born, born of a maiden wedded to no man." Well, he had clearly been born on the slopes of Dragonmount, and a Maiden of the Spear was a woman wedded to no man. He picked the boy up and examined him (ignoring the baby's squeals of protest) looking for some mark or sign, something to identify him. But to his frustration, he could find no such mark, nothing to distinguish him from any other baby boy. In spite of that, he couldn't shake the feeling that this boy was the dragon reborn and if so, the shadow had an opportunity that was too good to pass up, instead of trying to turn him later, they could raise him to serve the shadow right from the beginning.

He decided to take the baby to Shayol Ghul perhaps the Great Lord would be able to tell whether or not his suspicions regarding this boy were correct. Using the power, he opened a gateway and traveled to Shayol Ghul, then walked the passageway to the Pit of Doom; it was not safe to travel directly to or from the pit under any circumstances. When he arrived he was greeted with

"ISHAMAEL, WHY HAVE YOU BROUGHT THIS INFANT HERE?" the voice filled him with both ecstasy and pain and he sank to his knees, after a moment he replied

"Great Lord, I have brought him because him here because I think he might be the dragon reborn but I can't tell for certain, I thought that perhaps you could."

"REALLY, WHAT MAKES YOU THINK HE COULD BE THE ONE?" The Great Lord asked or demanded rather Ishamael replied

"I found him on the slopes of Dragonmount and his mother was a maiden of the spear." Strange shadows covered the boy, examining him; the child wailed yet again he did not like this at all. Eventually the shadows retreated and the Dark One spoke

"YOU HAVE DONE WELL ISHAMAEL, THIS BOY IS INDEED THE ONE WHO WILL BECOME THE DRAGON; I WOULD KNOW THAT SOUL ANYWHERE."

"Excellent, I will find a suitable dark friend family and-"

"NO" the Dark One cut Ishamael off mid sentence

"THE UPBRINGING OF MY CHAMPION IS TOO IMPORTANT TO LEAVE TO MERE GRUNTS, AS THE ONLY ONE OF MY CHOSEN FREE AT THE MOMENT, YOU WILL RAISE AND TRAIN HIM YOURSELF." At this Ishamael very nearly refused, he had been many things over the ages, a scholar, an adviser, even a general, but he had never been a parent nor had he ever had any desire to be a parent, children were stupid, children were annoying, and children got on his nerves! However, no one said no to the Great Lord of the Dark unless the wanted to suffer a fate far worse than mere death so Ishamael responded

"as you command Great Lord"

"YOU WILL PRESENT HIM TO ME AGAIN WHEN HE IS SIXTEEN, AND I EXPECT HIM TO BE WORHTY DO YOU UNDERSTAND ISHAMAEL?"

"Yes, Great Lord," Ishamael said

"THEN GO." The Great Lord dismissed him

Ishamael stood and headed to his quarters. Once he was there, he ordered his servants to take care of the boy. Although he also gave them instructions to talk to the boy frequently as well, he didn't plan on getting very involved in the boy's life until he was at least a toddler if not a bit older than that. Just because the Great Lord ordered him to raise and train the boy, didn't mean he had to deal with the constantly crying, blubbering baby that was servants work. Once he had given the baby to the zomarran and was sure they had things under control, he sat down in his usual chair by the bizarre fireplace that gave no actual heat to think and plan how he was going to go about training the future champion of the Shadow, he should have known the Great Lord would dump this on him, dark friends were not known for their competence after all. There was an awful lot the boy would need to know in order to be the shadow's champion, in addition to the one power (and likely the true power as well) he would need to know politics and military tactics and history (although the knowledge of the modern world was probably going to be more important), a few lessons in rhetoric would likely be a good idea as well and… he sighed, this was going to be a lot harder than he thought.

AN: The prophecy line is from The Great Hunt, and thanks to AramilOniasha and for telling me it was from that particular book.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Sorry, about the wait, this is one very annoying plot bunny. First he won't leave me alone, and then he abandons me for almost a month! Anyway since most of this story will be taking place after the attack on the Two Rivers during Winternight; this chapter contains scenes from Rand's childhood to give you idea of what it was like.

Chapter 2

Four year old Rand walked into his father's (he was not allowed to call him daddy, that was undignified) chambers. His father was sitting by a table playing a game of _Sha' rah_ by himself, father claimed doing that helped him think, Rand however was a little unsure. Still his father was too absorbed in his game to notice that Rand has entered the room. So he jumped just a little bit when Rand said

"Father?"

"What is it boy? I'm busy" Ishamael snapped at him, he didn't like being interrupted while he was plotting.

"I have a question." Rand replied

"Well, out with it" Ishamael snapped back, he really didn't want to deal with a nosy little kid right now

"How did I end up here?" Rand asked

Ishamael sighed, he'd known this would come up eventually but hadn't expected it this soon (he really hadn't had much experience with kids in his life). He also knew the sooner he gave Rand an answer the sooner the pest would leave and he could go back to his game and his plotting.

"Well" he began "Your mother died giving birth to you, I don't know who your father was, so don't ask. Anyway, you were crying very loudly, I heard the noise and came to investigate. I found your mother's dead body and you in her arms still alive so I picked you up and brought you here."

Even in his childish mind, Rand was skeptical about this, he knew his father was not a particularly nice man; he never did anything unless it benefited him in some way.

"Why did you that?" Rand inquired

"Would you rather I had left you there to die? You're an ungrateful little brat aren't you?" Ishamael retorted

"No" Rand said quickly "I'm glad you did it, but I was just wondering what made you decide to take me in."

"Simple, you're going to be quite useful to the Shadow when you grow up" Ishamael replied

"Why? What's so special about me?" Rand asked

Ishamael sighed inwardly, did children always ask this many questions? Out loud he said "You'll learn when you're older."

Rand groaned, like most kids he hated that response. Then something else Ishamael had said struck him. "What do you mean you don't know who my father is?" He demanded "I thought you were my father!"

"I am the one who is raising you, not the one who sired you." Ishamael explained

"Sired?" Rand repeated "what does that mean?"

"Well, it's quite complicated, it has to do with how babies are made." He then elaborated into a discussion of certain parts of male and female anatomy and how they interact to produce a baby. By the time he was finished Rand was completely disgusted and he yelled.

"That's Disgusting! Why would anyone ever want to do that?" then without waiting for an answer he fled from the room as fast as his little child legs could carry him. Ishamael smirked, maybe that would teach the brat not to bother him for a while, perhaps now he could actually get something accomplished.

_Four years later_

Ishamael had originally wanted to teach the boy everything he would need to know himself but he quickly realized that was impossible. He simply didn't have enough time; he had too many other things to do. He had to give orders to the various dark friend circles; he had to make sure said orders were actually carried out; he had to plan most of the dark's moves etc. So he delegated, he brought in several tutors (all dark friends and/or black Ajah members of course) to teach the boy instead. His schedule looked like this

_Breakfast at dawn_

_Physical activity until noon_- Which took the form of combat lessons from either one of the very few dark friend warders, a dark friend Aiel, or a dark friend Seanchan. It had taken awhile for Rand to convince Ishamael to agree to this. He felt that since Rand would be able to channel, learning martial combat was a pointless waste of time but Rand believed it was important because what would he do if he had to fight while being unable to channel? Besides, the fact that he would need some physical activity anyway and he might as well get it doing something he actually wanted to do, that had been the most convincing argument at least for Ishamael.

_Lunch_

_Lessons until dinner _– Rand never knew beforehand what lessons he would be getting until the tutor came to his room to fetch him. Ishamael said this was both to teach the boy to always be prepared for the unexpected and to keep him from establishing any routines, routines made one predictable and being predictable made one vulnerable. Rand thought father (he knew Ishamael was not his real father but he was the closest thing he had to a real father) only set it up that way to annoy him. After dinner he and father would go to _Tel'aran'rhiod_, once they were both there, father would quiz him on what he had learned that day and go over any questions he had and go over anything the tutors had missed.

They had just finished today's review session on the White Tower and Ishamael had left to go to some dark friend gathering and eight your old Rand was supposed to go back to his own dream. According to Ishamael he was still too young to explore _Tel'aran'rhiod _on his own. Rand, however, didn't think so; he'd been coming here for months now and felt he had a pretty good idea of how the place worked. He decided that instead of going back to his own dream, he should go explore the White Tower instead. After all, hearing about something wasn't the same as actually seeing it himself. So he dreamed himself into the White Tower and spent some time walking around and he quickly became hopelessly lost.

He wasn't really sure how much time had passed before a voice from behind said angrily

"What do you think you're doing?" Rand gulped he knew that voice, he turned around and saw his father standing there with his arms crossed and an angry expression on his face.

"Well?" Ishamael said

"I was just…there was a…" he stuttered, unable to come with an even remotely plausible explanation

"You were just wondering around Tel'aran'rhiodafter I specifically told you not to." Ishamael cut of his feeble attempts "and I bet this isn't the first time you've done this is it?"

"No, I've never-"Ishamael's glare intensified "well, maybe once…ok, I've done it a few times. But nothing happened I know what I'm doing in this place." Rand said

"Do you really?" Ishamael asked with a raised eyebrow. Suddenly an a'dam clamped itself around Rand's neck. He panicked he knew an a'dam was used to control people who can channel; he forgot that it only worked on women. A nasty looking sul'dam smirked at him.

"oh my, someone has been a very bad damane haven't they, whatever shall I do about that?" she said and then all Rand knew was pain. It was far worse than anything he ever knew and he screamed out loud. After what felt like an eternity the pain stopped and the a'dam and sul'dam vanished.

"see you don't know what you're doing at all! You could have simply dreamed her away but instead you let her hurt you like that." Ishamael said. Then he looked down at Rand, the boy still on his hands and knees panting, he clearly hadn't heard a word he'd said. In spite of himself, he felt regret. Maybe he'd gone too far there, the boy was only eight years old after all. He held out his hand and said gently "Rand?" the boy looked up nervously "let's get you back to your own dream okay?" Rand nodded and took his hand, and then they both vanished.

_Five years after that_

Rand and Ishamael were once again in the world of dreams. They were going over something Ishamael had him working on for a few months now. It was a state of mind that Ishamael called the oneness; it was something similar to something his combat teachers had told him about which they called the flame and the void. Simply put Rand imagine a huge bonfire in his mind and stuffed everything he was feeling into it, leaving nothing but a barren void. It had been difficult at first but now he could get himself in that state in little less than a minute but Ishamael still made him practice it every night.

"Now, Rand assume the oneness" Ishamael instructed. Rand nodded and concentrated. He found himself in the void but this time there was something else there too, a strange glow. Curious he gathered some of it into him and it was amazing. Everything was so much clearer colors were more vivid, sounds were more distinct, he'd never felt so alive and yet he felt sick too so much so that he nearly threw up. He knew what it must be, the male half of the one power, saidin. He wanted to try and do something to test his theory but what, what should he do? He noticed the table in the middle of the room and suddenly it burst into flames. Rand was startled and the void shattered. A little later the table stopped burning.

"You touched saidin didn't you Rand?" Ishamael said stunned voice. Admittedly he'd begun teaching the boy about the oneness knowing this would happen someday but he hadn't expected it to happen for another couple of years yet. He knew of course that while most men didn't spark until they were eighteen or nineteen training could bring out earlier but thirteen that was incredible! Rand nodded

"that was unbelievable I can't wait to try again."

"well, I'm afraid you'll have to." Ishamael said Rand looked crestfallen "I'm sorry, but no channeling until after you've been presented to the Great Lord and sworn to him. Otherwise the taint could drive you insane and you don't want that do you?"

"I know it's just…" Rand trailed off

"I understand but if it makes you feel any better, I'm proud of you." Ishamael replied. Rand lit up, he couldn't remember his father ever saying anything like that to him before and it meant a lot to him.

"Really you are?" Rand said as if he couldn't believe he'd heard that

"Yes, I am…how about you take tomorrow afternoon off, I'd say you've earned it." Ishamael replied. Rand was stunned he couldn't remember having any time off from his lessons _ever_.

"That sounds great, thank you father." Rand said

"then it's settled now go get some rest" Ishamael instructed it was nearly time to break things off for the night anyway.

"Yes father, good night" rand replied and vanished. Ishamael shook his head slightly after the teen vanished. Touching saidin at thirteen, extraordinary, he would never admit it but he had grown fond of young Rand was very proud of him. He had tried to resist it, attachments made you weak and being weak led to failure and/or death but in the end he'd been forced to concede to himself at least the boy was the only person in his life that mattered to him. Speaking of weaknesses though, the boy really needed to work on masking his emotions, he was far too easy to read. Well, not to worry, that would be fixed one way or another

_And three years after that_

Sixteen year old Rand nervously smoothed his shirt. This was it, after today he would officially belong to the shadow. First, however, he had to meet the Great Lord and he couldn't honestly say he was looking forward to that. Oh, he was loyal to the shadow make no mistake about that but he was also afraid of the Great Lord which according to father was healthy. Speaking of father where was he? He was supposed to escort Rand to Shayol Ghul but he hadn't shown up yet. It didn't help that Rand didn't really know what was going to happen, father had refused to discuss it beyond telling him that it was his task to escort the boy and the be ready when he arrived. Then the door opened and Ishamael stepped in.

"Are you ready?" He asked

"As I'll ever be." Rand replied

"Then let's go" and Ishamael replied and walked back out the door, Rand followed him.

"So we have to walk the whole way there?" He asked after they'd been walking a few minutes

"yes" Ishamael replied "never ever travel to or from the Pit of Doom directly it's very dangerous. In fact, don't channel at all unless you absolutely have to."

"Why?" Rand asked. Ishamael shook his head and didn't reply. Then they entered a cave. This was no ordinary cave however; it seemed to defy the laws of nature. Some rooms were so high, they could have stood on each other's shoulders, others were small they had to crawl on their hands and knees. Rand wasn't sure how long they went before the finally reached an overhang overlooking a huge pit. Ishamael knelt on both knees. Rand began to follow him but Ishamael held up his hand, not yet the gesture seemed to say so Rand remained standing.

"Great Lord, I have brought the boy as you commanded me too." Ishamael said

"SO I SEE" then he addressed Rand "NOW, BOY ARE YOU PREPARED TO RENOUNCE THE CREATOR AND SERVE ME INSTEAD?" the voice drove Rand to his knees alongside Ishamael.

"yes, Great Lord" Rand replied then added the ritual pledge his father had taught him (although some dark friend circles recited at the beginning of all meetings that was not what it had been meant for "The Great Lord of the Dark is my master…swift come the Great Lord of the Dark to guide us and rule the world forever and ever."i Then shadows swarmed over him, Rand feel themselves attaching to him, tying him to the Great Lord forever.

"YOU HAVE DONE WELL, ISHAMAEL, HE WILL BE A VALUABLE ASSET." Then he addressed Rand again and said "YOUNG ONE, YOU WILL NO LONGER BE CALLED RAND, YOU ARE NOW SHAIDAR AMAN, WEAR IT PROUDLY, NOW BOTH OF YOU GO."

Neither Ishamael nor Shaidar Aman spoke again until they arrived back in their home.

"that seemed rather short." Shaidar Aman stated

"most audiences with the Great Lord are" Ishamael replied "When they're long it usually means you're being punished." Rand nodded

"okay but why did he name me Shaidar Aman, that means dragon of the shadow doesn't it?" Rand asked

"yes, it does, but I don't know why he chose that name for you." Ishamael said but something told Rand that Ishamael knew full why but didn't feel like telling him. "anyway you should probably get some sleep; I imagine that took a lot out of you." Ishamael said. It was true Rand was exhausted but he didn't understand why, it wasn't like he done all the much, must be a side effect of what the Great Lord had done. Anyway, since he didn't really have any other option Shaidar Aman went to bed.

i This pledge is not mine, it's Robert Jordan's, it comes from pg. xx of the prologue in the Great Hunt, I just thought it would be appropriate here.

Rusty84- Never be sorry for asking a question, even if it does seem nitpicky.

Insane Winxy- I'm working on polishing...unfortunately it's a slow task

Pump-Kin Cre'me Pi- Thank you, it means a lot

Peach pie raspberry- I'm glad you enjoyed reading it...even your brain did reject it

Starsinger- Lesson learned, always look at the preview before you post something, I'm glad you think it's a good concept

Alkin- It took me awhile to figure out that when you post something it alters the format (at least it does on my computer) but I found that out so no more textwalls. I'm also curious to see if shadow raised will stay dark or not...at this point I don't know any better than you do


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Samira a'Calian Aes Sedai of the Brown and more importantly of the Black Ajah listened while her student Rand, or no Shaidar Aman now, recited the Karaethon Cycle Prophecies. Samira Sedai was a small woman from Tarabon, who was just under 300 years old and yet the only sign of age, was her curly, gray hair that fell to just below her shoulders. She wasn't sure why Ishamael had insisted that she make sure Shaidar Aman memorized the Karaethon cycle word for word but she wasn't about to ask, that was probably suicidal. She had been teaching the boy for almost ten years, she had discovered to her surprise that she actually enjoyed teaching someone in this kind of one on one format although she had utterly hated teaching in classrooms at the White Tower. She could still recall quite vividly the night she was given her most time consuming assignment ever.

_Flashback 10 years ago_

Samira had just returned to her chambers after her meeting with the Brown's council. She was head of the Ajah's eyes and ears and it was her task to keep them informed of what was happening in the world outside Tar Valon. At times she wished that someone else had been chosen for that job; it wasn't that she had anything against the council but she really didn't like the time it took away from her research. It was with a sense of relief that she entered her chambers, if one had to describe the room itself in one word, it would be cluttered. There were books and parchments from her various projects scattered all over the place, along with scattered souvenirs from the different places she'd been. The mess would have driven some or perhaps even most of her sisters mad but to her it was a comfort. However, research would have to wait some more because almost as soon as she shut the door another figure appeared in her room, a tall man dressed all in black. She recognized him immediately, Ishamael. Right away she sank to her knees and said

"Great Master, how may I serve?"

"Rise and come with me" Ishamael ordered. Then a strange hole appeared not far from where he was standing and he stepped through. She knew what it must be Traveling, one of the many talents lost after the age of legends, extraordinary. Yet she hesitated, that gateway had been woven with _saidin, _the tainted male half of the one power that drove the men unlucky enough to touch it insane. Logically she knew that the taint could not jump from the flows of power into her body, she still didn't want to go anywhere near those flows or that gateway but she knew that she didn't have a choice. So she very reluctantly stepped through; on the other side was a red-haired boy, along with Ishamael of course, but Samira kept staring at the boy, what was he doing here?

"This is my son" Ishamael said. Samira was stunned, she had never thought of Ishamael or any of the Chosen for that matter as being inclined to marriage and parenthood. Before she managed to completely get over her shock, Ishamael spoke again

"You are to instruct him, in history and the customs and traditions of the modern world, is that understood?"Inwardly, groaned she hated teaching but she knew better than to say that so what she actually said was

"Yes, Great Master"

"Good" Ishamael responded "you will keep me informed of his progress" and then he left. Samira then turned the boy and she couldn't help but wonder who the boy's mother was; she couldn't be one of the chosen, aside from Ishamael they were still sealed in the bore, so if not one of them, then who?

_End flashback_

Both her remembrances and Shaidar Aman's recitation were cut off abruptly when the door flew open. Ishamael stormed in, he seemed very upset about something. Samira had learned early on that when Ishamael was upset he was less stable and more violent so she decided in the interest of self preservation to keep her mouth shut. Her student however did not (she still hadn't decided if he was very brave or not aware of how dangerous his father was) instead he asked

"Father, what's wrong?"

"They got away!" Ishamael exclaimed "I sent a whole fist of Trollocs to that flyspeck village to get those Ta'veren and they failed completely!" he shook his head and muttered something under his breath. Just like that he switched back to usual self, on the surface at least. "I'm going to teach you how to locate Ta'veren" He told Shaidar Aman. Both of the men seemed to have completely forgotten that Samira was there but she knew better than to leave without being told too. So she simply sat there, she felt much like a novice attending a couple of Sitters, completely invisible unless wanted for something. She didn't mind too much really, maybe she could learn something from this.

As far Samira understood the process of finding Ta'veren had something to do with locating pluses and flukes anything that seemed out the ordinary, it sounded awfully difficult to her and the young master seemed to be having trouble with it as well. She could tell Ishamael was getting frustrated and angry again. To some degree Ishamael reminded her of a volcano, usually he kept his motions so tightly controlled that he could put even the coldest whites (cough, Alviarian, cough) to shame but when his emotions managed to escape that control, they exploded with terrific and often terrifying force. Samira began to get the sense that explosion time was not far off.

"Never mind" Ishamael said "I'll do it myself" and he walked over to the other side of the room. He stood there for a couple of minutes (Samira wasn't certain but she suspected that he'd also failed to locate the Ta'veren, whoever they were) and then he spun around fast and shouted

"_Why_ are you both just sitting there?" then without waiting for an answer he added "Out, out out!" They both fled from the room as fast as their legs could carry them.

Once they were safely on the other side of the compound, Shaidar Aman turned to Samira and said

"Well, it looks like the lesson is over for today, so here" and he then wove a gateway back to Samira's bed chamber in the White Tower

"Why don't you just go home?" Samira nodded, she liked the sound of that plan and then she stepped through the gateway. After she'd left and he closed the gateway, Shadiar Aman sighed. He loved his father and he was sorry he hadn't been able to get the Ta'veren locating trick right. It was really hard though, the pattern was full of odd things and Ishamael had been rushing him the whole time, he knew patience had never been one of his strong suits, but still. Then mentally he smacked himself this was no time to be wallowing in self pity (besides, things like that made him weak and pathetic anyway); he had to keep trying until he got it right.

He wasn't certain if it was just him but it seemed that they was something strange down in the town of Baerlon in Andor. Well, there was only one way to find out. He decided to go for a quick look; his plan was simple go down to Baerlon take a quick look around (it would also give his father time to calm down) and then he'd skim back to the compound before his father had a chance to notice he was gone. Quickly, before he started having second thoughts he spun a gateway to a spot just out of town (he knew he couldn't Travel into the city, it would draw to much attention) and stepped through it.

When he arrived in the town, he was overwhelmed. He'd been here once in Tel'aran'rhiod but there hadn't been any people around. Now, however, this one street was filled with people. Far more people than he had seen in his entire life. It was also incredibly noisy; people had to practically shout to be heard by people standing right beside them. Not to mention the smell, it was sickening; he couldn't help but wonder many things had died in there? Part of him wanted to turn and run but no he couldn't and wouldn't do that. He was Shaidar Aman, Dragon of the Shadow; he would not run away like a coward, besides he'd be all right once he got used to everything. He couldn't avoid towns and cities forever, so he might as well start getting adjusted to it sooner rather than later. Determinedly he moved forward to being his expedition.

AN: Okay, a couple of things have been brought up, a multiple times now, so I feel that I should address them.

First, some of you have wondered why Rand is called Rand; I have a more detailed explanation for exactly how that happened planned for the next chapter but for now let's say that it's because I wanted Rand to go through the whole 'dying' and being reborn in the shadow thing that the other Forsaken did and for that he had to be old enough to understand what was happening. Also the process of being tied to the Dark One takes a very heavy toll on one's body (in this fic, at least) so it had to wait until his body was developed enough to handle it, otherwise it would have killed him. He's more useful to the Shadow alive than dead (besides it would end the fic right there if he died). I needed something to call him in the meantime and I wasn't sure what else to use so I stuck with Rand.

Second, Ishamael, some of you have said that he's too emotional but I felt that even he couldn't raise a child practically from birth without growing a _little_ fond of it but he'll only be like that with Rand though so don't worry too much. I also don't think that Ishamael is really emotionless because as far as we know he is a human being and therefore it's not possible for him to lack emotions, he's just an expert at hiding them from everyone and controlling them so they don't influence his decisions when he's more lucid (he's had a lot of time to practice). Also he's not crazy enough…I know, when I try to write him that way in my rough drafts he comes out like he's speaking gibberish and that's no good to anyone. So I figured sane and understandable was a better choice than insane and incomprehensible.

Third, some of you have asked for more description in the summary. I'll get to that as soon as I figure out where this story is going. I have a few random scenes and vague ideas but mostly I'm making this up as I go along. So I'm open to any suggestions you guys have. I haven't even decided if he's going to really go light or ultimately choose to remain dark yet.

All right, I think that's covered everything (wow, this is a long author's note but I had a lot of explaining to do). I don't mean to seem defensive here so if I do, I apologize; I just felt that since you guys took the time to bring these things up, it's my responsibility to explain why I did what I did. I really appreciate all your comments and reviews on both what I got right and what I got wrong (how else will I get better right?) so by all means keep them coming, thank you very much.

Banares- I hope my explanation above helps satisfy you. If you want to try a writing a similar story yourself, please, don't let me stop you, I would to see what someone might come with for this type of scenario

Starsinger- Yes, normal parents would know that four is a bit young for the birds and the bees but Ishamael is not a parent and I highly doubt that he has ever read a parenting book

Alkin- Indeed, it's doubtful that the shadowsworn are willing or able to love anyone but their own individuals selves...which may be prove to be their undoing. I don't want to give to much away but I will say that events always seem to spiral out of everybody's control

Aderran- I know that this site has a lot of stories that have been abandoned by their authors but I will finish this...however long it takes me so don't worry about that. I just looked up the word the old tongue word for Shadow and the one for dragon...it didn't even occur to me that putting them together might not be that simple, but I went and fixed it so no harm done. As always, I'm glad you enjoyed it

Pump-Kin Cre'me Pi- Pleased to see that you like it


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

As Shadiar Aman walked through the crowded streets of Baerlon; he was struck by and couldn't help but reflect on how odd his childhood had been. He was no stranger to blood and violence; he'd witnessed his first murder when he was five, admittedly by accident but still.

_Several years ago_

_Five year old Rand woke up screaming from a nightmare. He then did what any scared kid would do, he ran to go find his father. He checked in all of his father's usual places, he wasn't in any of them. Unsure what else to do he darted outside, there were several Myrddraal out there. At first, he wasn't certain what was happening and so he crept closer, no one seemed to notice him. He saw a woman on the ground, battered and covered in blood, a fade having seemingly grown bored with her, walked over and sliced her head off. Later Rand wouldn't be able to remember if he'd screamed or not but he did remember running back inside the compound and hiding under the stairs._

Since then, he grown used to torture and murder, a consequence of growing up in the Blight, but he had never entered a town before now. He wasn't used to being around large groups of people which actually was something that was pretty common for most people unlike blood and death. Although, he himself, hadn't personally killed anyone until he was fifteen.

_A few years ago_

_Rand and Ishamael were in Tel'aran'rhoid but he wasn't sure exactly where in Tel'aran'rhoid they were exactly. Not far from them was a blonde nobleman who'd been bound and gagged with the one power. He'd failed in his task to infiltrate a peace negotiation between Illian and Tear. Ishamael and the Great Lord wanted the world to be in chaos and discord, the people busy fighting amongst themselves, peace was unacceptable. He knew what he had to do; and yet he hesitated something deep inside him that he didn't understand was holding him back. "Rand, hurry up! All you need is one small thread of air, it's not that difficult." His father said. Slowly reluctantly he wove a thread of air and in one clean motion used it to slice the man's head from his neck. The head rolled toward him a bit before coming to a halt with it's now lifeless eyes staring at him. He took an involuntary step back. His father looked at him expressionlessly and said in a surprisingly gentle tone_

"_The first kill is always the hardest, it becomes easier."_

That much at least was true. Over time he had grown callous to the idea and now he could rather quickly decide whether or not he had to kill someone although he still particularly like doing it. It was illogical but no matter how hard he tried he could not change it.

His musings were interrupted when someone grabbed his arm and pulled him behind a cart that had a large pile of barrels on it that although Shadiar Aman didn't know what was in them, smelled really bad.

"What are you-?" Shadiar Aman began to demand but he was cut off when the other boy put his finger to his lips and hissed

"Shhh, you'll ruin it."

Shadiar Aman looked at him confused and the other boy said "Wait here, you'll see"

He saw a group of white cloaks moving toward them. He glared he despised white cloaks, his father had quite a lot to say about them, pompous fools was about the nicest and Shadiar Aman's few interactions with them had proven that father was right, as usual. The three were strutting along arrogantly, like they owned the place. He happened to glance up and saw the boy he had just met, climbing out of an attic window with a whirling sling in his hand. He then fired his sling and hit the single stake that was holding the barrels in place. The barrels came rolling down and people scattered all over the place. Unfortunately none of the barrels managed to hit any of the children but they were covered with mud. They tried vainly to shake it off but to no avail. Shadiar Aman burst out laughing which of course drew the white cloaks attention toward him. One of the stepped a bit in front of the others and demanded arrogantly

"You find something amusing, yes?" Now the smart thing to do would probably be to play the scared country bumpkin but Shadiar Aman simply couldn't bring himself to go that route so he replied sarcastically

"Really, what was your first clue, the fact that I was laughing? A real genius aren't you?" That comment naturally did not go over well

"You dare insult the Children of the Light? Perhaps you're responsible for this yes?" Did the man have to say 'yes' at the end of every sentence, it was getting irritating.

"No, it was just an accident, they can happen to anyone." Shadiar Aman replied. He shifted his stance just a bit so that although he appeared to be standing casually, he would be ready if it came to a fight. He was confident that he wouldn't need to channel to deal with these three idiots.

"You are that dangerous, Youngling?" The white cloak said with a raised eyebrow

"Who are you calling, Youngling? I'm not that much younger than you are!" Shaidar Aman demanded; he really did not like it when anyone called him that. It made him like they were treating him like a little kid. He was the newest of the Chosen (The Great Lord had said so) he was NOT a child! The white cloak ignored the outburst

"You are new to this place, yes? You come from where?" The white cloak asked

"I just arrived in Baerlon, and where I came from is none of your business." Shadiar Aman responded, even if he had wanted to cooperate with them, there was no possible way he was going to tell them that he came from Thakan'dar.

"You avoid my questions" The white cloak snapped at him "what evil is in you that you don't answer me?" The white cloaks started to close in on him, one of drew his sword, just an inch or so. The leader's expression turned even more sour if that were possible and he said "When the Children of the Light ask questions you gray-eyed bumpkin, we expect answers or,-"He cut off, as when of his men pointed up the street. Shaidar Aman and the white cloak leader but shifted to look. A dozen men from the town watch were coming up the street.

One of the other white cloaks shouted "This town has lost the Light! Baerlon stands in the shadow of the Dark One!" Shadiar Aman couldn't help but scoff

"This town has more Light in it, than you do white cloak"

At first the white cloaks were stunned, as if they couldn't believe what they had just heard. Then their leader snarled "How dare you accuse us of being dark friends, it's obvious that YOU are the dark friend here!"

"When did I say that you were dark friends? Actually, I believe the Dark One would be embarrassed to be associated with loud-mouthed, arrogant, imbeciles like you. The fact is that the Children of the Light do nothing but go around sowing panic and fear among the gullible members of the populace. Framing anyone who is smart enough not to buy into their narrow-minded, overly simplistic world view. I bet none of you have ever encountered a real dark friend. I know that it is very difficult for you but try to think; dark friends are masters of deception and subterfuge. They are not going to openly disagree with you; they're going to say whatever they think you want to hear. They'll also try to use you to frame their neighbors instead of themselves." Shadiar Aman explained as though lecturing a small child. By now the watch men had reached them.

The white cloak glared at Shadiar Aman, clearly not wanting to leave but knew that he had no choice and hated that fact. He growled

"Dark friends do not escape us, youngling, even in a town that stands in the Shadow. We will meet again. You may be sure of it!" He then spun and his heel and walked away followed by his two subordinates. The town watch men looked at Shaidar Aman as if he had grown a second head for a minute and then slowly followed the Children of the Light.

Then the boy, with the sling (although said sling had been put away) came back over and said

"That was…wow; I can't believe you did that. You must be crazy!" Shadiar Aman shrugged and asked

"Why, I just said what most people think"

"Yeah, but most people are also scared of the Children of the Light" the other boy pointed out. To which Shadiar Aman responded simply

"Not me."

"I'm Mat, by the way, Mat Cauthon." the boy introduced himself and held out his hand. Shadiar Aman took it and said

"Rand, Rand a'Calian" using his childhood name, the way he got it, was something else that was rather weird, now that he thought about it. Most children are named by their parents but Rand was actually a name given to him by the zomarran. From what his father told him later (obviously he, himself did not remember any of it) the zomarran had taken care of his needs and everything when he was little. These days he pretty much took care of his needs by himself. Father had instructed them to read to him at least once a day, preferably more; Father had been concerned that if he didn't hear people talking a lot, then he wouldn't learn how to talk himself which of course would be disastrous. Apparently, at some point, his baby self had a thought that the zomarran interpreted as an order to call him Rand and so they did. Later when father found out, he felt that the baby did need a name and so no reason why it couldn't be Rand. So he had just left it alone and Rand became his name until the Great Lord had renamed him Shaidar Aman.

Right then, he was glad that he had a name that was not in any way linked to the shadow, it would be easier then coming up with another name for himself. The last name, he had simply used the first one that had popped into his head. Samira wouldn't mind, she'd probably never even know and if she did find out, oh well. Rand didn't care.

"Have you found a place to stay yet?" Mat asked him

"No" Rand replied "I, only arrived in town, a little while ago"

"Then why don't you come to the Stag and Lion with me. I want to tell Perrin about the white cloaks but he won't believe without someone else to back me up." Mat said

"Perrin?" Rand asked

"Perrin Aybara, he's a friend of mine. Anyway, will you come?"

Rand knew that he should excuse himself, find a deserted spot and skim back to Thakan'dar and tell Father that he had found the Ta'vern. Still, this was the first time he had ever gotten to speak with someone his own age and part of him didn't want to end it just yet. Before he had made up his mind Mat grabbed his arm and started pulling him down the street. Rand eventually decided to let him, arguing with him and making a scene would draw attention.

There weren't many rules that the Chosen had to follow, but there were a couple. The first, naturally, was obey the Great Lord of the Dark at all times, period. The second and almost as important was never draw unnecessary attention, be as inconspicuous as possible. That second rule was why he had sent Samira back to the White Tower. She was the head of the Brown Ajah's eyes and ears, if she was away too often or too long people would start asking questions; that and he hadn't wanted her underfoot while he tried to master the Ta'vern finding trick. So it was probably a good thing that the town watch and shown up when they did, now that he thought about it.

Finally Mat stopped and Rand, who hadn't been paying attention, nearly ran smack into him but Mat didn't notice.

"Here we are" Mat announced "The Stag and Lion Inn, Perrin should be in here somewhere" and then together the two of them headed into the Inn.

Aderran- I understand what you're saying, but I would like to point out that growing up in the shadow Rand has led in some respects, a very sheltered life. He has spent most of his life in the Blight and even when he went to dark friend circle gatherings they were only fairly small (compared to a city, at least) number of people. The sights and sounds of a large town like Baerlon are completely outside his realm of experience and that's why he reacted the way he did when he first arrived.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

The two young men walked into the common room together and soon found Perrin sitting a table in the corner of the room

"Hey Matt" Perrin greeted as the two approached "who's that with you?"

"Hi, Perrin, this is Rand a'Calian, Rand this is my friend Perrin" Mat replied

"Nice to meet you" Rand added politely

"Likewise" Perrin said "So how did you two meet anyway?"

Mat had been waiting for this opportunity and immediately launched into telling Perrin all about how the prank he had pulled on the white cloaks and the way Rand had stood up to them.

Perrin sighed and said "Mat, once of these days those pranks of yours are going to get you into serious trouble."

"You've been saying that for years and nothing has happened to me yet." Mat replied

"It only takes once" Perrin countered

"So, I assume that the two of you have known each other for a long time then?" Rand interrupted before the childish bickering could continue

"Yeah, we practically grew up together in the Two Rivers" Mat answered then seemed to realize he had something he shouldn't have and quickly shut his mouth. Quickly Perrin asked Rand

"Where do you come from?" hoping to make him ignore Mat's slip up in mentioning the Two Rivers which would of course have attracted the attention of any dark friend who was searching for them

Rand took a moment to mentally curse himself for his stupidity in not having a cover story ready then he gathered his thoughts and said

"I heard about that false dragon Logain so I came up north from Gheldean to see him, I figured it was a once in a lifetime thing, you know" the boys seemed to accept that response much to Rand's relief then quickly because he wanted them to do the talking instead of him Rand asked "I've never been to the Two Rivers; what is it like there?"

"Oh, like any other farming community I suppose" Perrin shrugged "lots of sheep and wool, that sort of thing"

"Right, nothing very interesting ever happens there." Mat added

"Is that what made you two leave then?" Rand prodded

"Yeah, we wanted to get out and see the world" Mat said

Just then a small woman dressed in blue came down the stairs and spoke to Mat

"Mat, could I see you for a moment?" she asked Rand forced himself not to tense up, she was one of those so-called Aes Sedai, the first one he had encountered that was not Black Ajah. Still though she had no reason to suspect who he was and besides she was just a half-trained child. If worse came to worse he could deal with her easily, she was no threat to him really

"Coming Mistress Alys" Mat said sounding not even remotely pleased with that

Mistress Alys lead Mat back up the stairs and her room. Then she wove a ward against eavesdropping and then she finally turned to Mat and demanded "What do you're doing, bringing that young man here and then telling him you were from the Two Rivers?"

Mat told her about his prank and Rand's encounter with the white cloaks then he went on to say "I brought him here because I wanted to tell Perrin about it and I didn't think he would believe me without a witness, as for the Two Rivers thing I just slipped up a little but…" he sighed he really didn't want to tell Moiraine this next part but he felt that she probably should know "He feels…familiar somehow, I've never met him before in my life but it feels like I should know him, like something went wrong to change the pattern or something, never mind that's crazy, forget I said that."

Moiraine merely looked at him her face showing only that annoying Aes Sedai lack of expression finally after what seemed like an eternity to Mat she said "Very well, but be careful around him, I suspect that he is more than he appears to be." Mat nodded and left Moiraine alone with her thoughts

Meanwhile back downstairs Rand and Perrin had talked for awhile the talked a lot more once Mat had rejoined them. Actually Mat did most of the talking because neither Rand nor Perrin were really interested in talking themselves after a while Rand excused himself. It was getting late, he really had to get back to Thakan'dar, and his father would probably be looking for him. So Rand decided to try and head out to the stables, since it was late he thought that there wouldn't be any one in there but he was wrong.

In the stables he met a woman only a little bit older than he was with crop-hair and a dressed in a boy's coat and breeches. The woman had been stroking a horse's muzzle but glanced up when he came in through the door

"Hello, I haven't seen you around here before, my name is Min Farshaw and you are?" she said

"Rand, Rand a'Cailian, I'm sorry mistress I didn't mean to disturb you" Rand replied

"You didn't, I was about to leave soon anyway…You are an odd one aren't you" Min responded

"No, I'm not; I'm just me, plain old ordinary Rand nothing odd about me." Rand denied, he wasn't about to tell her that he was really one of the Great Lord of the Dark's chosen

"Of course there isn't…you know, something about you reminds me of those other two young men who came with Moiraine, do you know them?" Min said

"Who's Moiraine?" Rand asked

"Mistress Alys, then if you prefer, but don't worry there's no one around to hear us." Min answered

"What makes you think that Mistress Alys has another name?" Rand asked

"Simple, she told me, although she didn't have much choice to be honest about I saw that she was different right away, when she and Master Andra stopped here on their way down country. She knew about me; I've talked to other people like her before."

"What do you mean?" Rand asked

Min smiled "Well, I doubt you'll go running to the Children, not after that little display this afternoon" she grinned a bit further at the look on Rand's face "Oh yes, that little story has been told at least a dozen times now, I'm sure everybody and his uncle has heard it. The Children won't like what I do any more than what she does or what you did."

Rand shook his head "I don't understand what you're talking about." He told her

"Moiraine says I see pieces of the pattern" Min laughed slightly and shook her head "sounds to grand to me, I just see things when I look at people and sometimes I know what they mean. I can look at a man and a woman who have never met and I know that someday they'll get married and they do; that sort of thing."

"What do you see when you look at me?" Part of him wanted to just write this woman off as a lunatic and yet there was a part of him that believed her and was curious as to what she saw around him

"A lot things, a sword that is not a sword, a white-hot iron, you pouring water on sand, a golden crown of laurel leaves, lighting all around you, some it is striking you and some of it is coming out of you I don't know what most of it means." She trailed off

"What do you know?" Rand prodded

"Well there's this set of scales that means you have a big choice to make and that choice will help determine that fate of the entire world and I also know that you and I will meet again" She said

"Why wouldn't we, I'll be passing through here again on my way home." Rand said

"Yes, I suppose you will at that" She said with another grin. At this point Rand decided that he'd had enough

"I have to go…meet my friends" Rand said

"Go then, but you won't escape" Min responded Rand didn't quite run but each step he took was quicker than the last one. "Run, if you want. You can't escape from me."

That cemented it; Min Farshaw was a complete lunatic. Rand found himself alone in the kitchen. Finally he thought he could spin a gateway and skim back to Thakan'dar, but he was very thirsty so he decided to get himself something to drink first. Rand poured himself a glass of milk and had drunk most of it when he heard a voice from behind him demand

"You are with them, we are they, boy?" Rand turned and saw a fade standing on the other side of the room. If it could have, the fade would have paled, quickly it said

"Great Master, I'm sorry I didn't know it was you, what are you doing here?"

"Where I go and what I do is no concern of yours." Rand said coldly. He would have gone further but both he and the fade heard footsteps racing down the hall toward Rand turned his head over toward the shadows for a brief moment. The fade didn't need to be told twice it ran to the shadows in the corner of the room. Those shadows reached out, almost seemed to embrace it and then it was gone. Rand meanwhile pressed himself against the wall and tried to adopt a scared expression. A tall man leaped down and landed with a crash.

"Fade, it ran that way!" Rand told him

The man nodded "yes, it's fading and no time to pursue it now. We're leaving and I suggest you come with us." Rand assumed this man was the Aes Sedai's warder and that she probably thought she could use him or something, let her think that for now, she'd learn how mistaken she was the hard way.

"Now, in the middle of the night!" Rand protested

"You want to wait for the Halfman to come back, for half a dozen of them it knows where we are now." Inwardly Rand scoffed, he was one of the chosen he had nothing to fear from any number of Myrdraal but outwardly he simply said "All right, let's go" They began heading toward the stables on the way there met by the gleeman that had been performing in the common room

"I believe I will ride with you again." He said to the warder "it's known that I came with you and I suspect in the morning it will be bad to be known as your friend"

"You can ride with us or to Shayol Ghul gleeman" the warder responded

When they reached the stables they found Moiraine there along with two young women she was trying to warn the innkeeper that darkfriends might come and try to make trouble but the innkeeper was not listening to her. He seemed to think darkfriends were harmless miserable wretches that were more pathetic than anything else really. 'What a fool' Rand thought 'the world would likely be better off if someone did decide to swipe his brainless head from his shoulders.' Rand was bit odd like that, he didn't like killing himself, but he had no qualms whatsoever about getting somebody else to do it for him.

"Do you really think Trollocs might come here hunting us?" Mat asked Rand tried not to snort 'the Great Lord of the Dark has many more servants than just Trollocs imbecile' Rand thought

"Trollocs, of course not!" Moiraine snapped "There are many other things to fear such as how we were found. I doubt the Fade believes we will remain but even so Master Fitch greatly underestimates dark friends" Well, Rand thought to himself she may be a half-trained child but at least she isn't completely stupid. His opinion of her went up just a tiny bit, like his father Rand had no patience for fools, although they could be quite useful at times.

"So who are you?" One of the women asked him as they left the inn.

"My name is Rand a'Cailian, I know Mat and Perrin and Moiraine of course but who are the rest of you?"

"The gleeman is Thom Merrilan, Lan is _her_ warder." Rand didn't need to ask who _her _was "I am Nynaeve al'Meera wisdom of Emond's Field and this is my apprentice Egwene al'Veere. Was there really something down there _she_ said it was-"

"A fade yes, it was in the kitchen with me and it fled when it heard Lan coming" Rand cut her off. They spent the rest of the journey in silence until they reached the Caemlyn Gate, and then Lan dismounted and approached the tired-looking watchman

"What? You want to leave now, it's the middle of the night, you all must be crazy!"

"Unless there is some order from the Governor that says we can't leave" Moiraine said, she had also dismounted but she did not approach the watchman

"Not exactly Mistress" the watchman admitted "but the gates stay closed from sundown to sunrise; no one enters the city unless it's daylight. That's the order and anyway, there's a lot of wolves out there. There's been over a dozen cows killed this week, could kill a man just as easily."

"No one can come in during the night but nothing about leaving, we would never ask you to disobey the governor" Moiraine said simply as if the matter had been settle just like that Lan than pressed some coins into the watchman's hand

"For your trouble" he whispered

"I suppose, nothing was said about leaving at that just a minute. The watchman responded then he shouted "Dar, Arin! Get out here and help me open the gate these people want to leave. Don't argue with me just do!" The watchman responded

Two more watchmen emerged and together they began to open the gates, before very long a voice from behind the party of eight said

"What's this? Aren't the gates ordered shut from sundown to sunrise?" the group looked to see five white cloaks coming toward them 'Of course' Rand thought 'these buffoons again'

"This is none of your business" one of the watchmen said angrily but when the white cloaks turned to him his tone softened "The children hold no sway here the Governor-"

"The Children hold sway wherever men walk in the light; only where the Shadows reigns are the Children denied yes?" He surveyed the group and then asked "What kind of people want to leave the safety of the town walls with wolves prowling around and the Dark One's handiwork flying over the town." Rand had to resist the urge to reply back 'What kind of people spend all their time sticking their noses into other people's business?'

"Travelers of no concern to you" Lan answered

"Everyone is of concern to the Children of the Light" Really Rand scoffed don't these pests have anything better to do

"Do you really want get into more trouble with the governor, he has already limited your numbers in town and had you followed. What will he do when he discovers you're harassing honest citizens at the gates?"

"The governor does not know what happens under his nose. There is evil that he does not see or smell but the Children of the Light see, the Children smell the evil. We smell it and root it out wherever it is found."

At that Rand could not contain himself any longer "If you're so determined to root out evil, you should start with yourselves, you so called Children of the Light drag people out of their own homes, you turn friends and families against one another, you torture helpless children! You talk of justice, yet you are cruel to those you're supposed to protect, you're worse than dark friends, at least their evil doesn't reek of hypocrisy as well!" Everyone stared at him for a moment, unable to believe that they had heard what they thought they had

"You, how dare you?" The white cloak stepped closer "You're the brat from before aren't you yes? Clearly watchmen I have saved you from a horrible disaster. These are darkfriends that you were about to help escape from the Light. You should be reported to the Governor for discipline or perhaps taken to the questioners to discover your true intentions this night. You would not wish that would you? I will take these ruffians to our camp so they may be questioned instead of you yes?"

"You will take me to your camp white cloak, you will question me you will bar my way?" Moraine's voice came from every direction and then shrouded in darkness she advanced toward them seemingly growing taller with each step only Rand was unimpressed, it was a simple thing really, he could have done it himself if he wanted

"Aes Sedai Die!" The white cloak leader shouted, he and the white cloaks drew their swords but even though Moiraine had stopped advancing she continued to grow and the white cloaks it seemed did not want to try fighting a giant.

"Go!" Lan urged and grabbed the reins of Moiraine's mare and rode through the now open gates, the rest of the party followed. Once they were all through the gates began to shut far faster than they had opened while Moiraine simply stepped over the wall

"Hold the gates, we must pressure them!" Bornhald shouted but the gates kept closing, the watchmen had not signed up to deal with Aes Sedai, or Children of the Light, they very much wanted things to back to the way there were supposed to be. Rand meanwhile was beginning to wonder just what had he gotten himself into.

Insane Winxy- I'm glad you think that my writing has improved, that's part of the reason why I write fics at all, to improve my writing skills

Hobgobler20- Yeah, I think you're right, my mistake, I've fixed it now though

Aderran- I thought about having him actually get into a fight but I decided against it...maybe later though.

Pump-Kin Cre'me Pi- Glad you think it's great, even though it's on the short side


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: **I know it has been over a month since my last update and I am really sorry, but things have been very hectic lately and unfortunately real life is showing no sign of slowing down; but don't worry if it takes a while between updates, I am not abandoning this fic.

Chapter Six

Rand had quickly discovered that riding on horseback was a lot harder than it looked. While riding through town it hadn't been that bad, because even though it was his first time ever on a horse, they were just walking or trotting rather. However, once they left the town gates they began to gallop and suddenly it was all Rand could do to stay on his horse, thankfully he didn't really have to do much steering since his horse was more than willing to simply follow the horse in front of it.

They hadn't gone that far before Moiraine, who was in the lead, suddenly froze, it was all Egwene could do to keep her horse from bumping into Moiraine's little mare. Rand was slightly grateful for the chance to stop and try to regain his sense of balance and then he saw why Moiraine had suddenly stopped. Hovering in the air in front of her was a draghkar singing its hypnotic song at first Moiraine simply stared at it. The others seemed either unable to move or uncertain of what to do so Rand decided to simply watch the scene play out. Time seemed to slow down, as the draghkar advanced on Moiraine slowly coming closer to her and then just when it was about to grab her, an arrow suddenly flew by and struck it in one of its wings.

The creature stopped singing and instead screeched in pain as it turned to flee. Now that the song was stopped Moiraine was able to move quickly she wove a large ball of fire and threw at the draghkar but the creature managed to dodge and then it was out of range so Moiraine didn't fire a second ball. Rand wondering where the arrow had come from craned his neck to look over his shoulder and saw Lan on his own horse with his bow drawn. As Rand watched Lan put the arrow he had been knocking on his bow back into his quiver.

By this time, Moiraine had managed to regain her composure. "Come" she said "we must keep moving" They began to gallop again.

"What _was_ that thing?" Egwene asked

"A draghkar" Moiraine answered "another of the Dark One's shadow spawn creatures, the fade probably sent it hoping to slow us down, the song you heard is its' greatest weapon, it hypnotizes its' opponents so they are unable to resist, which is good for it because it does not have any real fighting capabilities."

"Is that why it fled when Lan shot it?" Mat asked

"Yes, it knew it was helpless with it's' song spell broken" Moiraine replied

"Well, that's a useless creature why make a shadow spawn that can't fight." Mat commented

"Do not underestimate them" Moiraine scolded "Shadow spawn are very dangerous creatures, including the Draghkar, if Lan hadn't been there it would have killed me."

"Only because you were dumb enough to just sit there" Mat grumbled softly but not quite softly enough

"I didn't see you rushing to the rescue, I seem to recall you just sitting there watching the thing fly toward her." Egwene countered

Mat sputtered but before he could come up with a retort to that Moiraine interrupted

"Enough bickering, just focus on the task at hand." At that the talking stopped. Rand spent much of the trip mentally cursing whoever the idiot was; who had decided that riding on horseback was a good way to get around. It was somewhat ironic father didn't approve of swearing or cursing, said it was the last resort of the stupid, the foolish, and the ignorant and yet his father (unintentionally, of course) was the one who had taught Rand most of the swears and curses he knew.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to Rand, the group came to a halt. By this time the sun was up and had been up for quite a while. They stopped because they and their horses needed food and rest. Well, most of them stopped, Lan doubled back to try and hide their trail and to try to get an idea of how far behind them the fade and its' trolloc underlings were.

Moiraine had argued against it, claiming that he needed to rest too but Lan had insisted. Although Rand didn't think that Moiraine had argued very hard, and why would she, after all it was important work that Lan was doing.

They didn't really talk all that much because they were utterly exhausted and instead simply rested and tried to gain at least some strength back. After what Rand felt (and he was sure the others would agree with him on this) was nowhere near enough time. Lan returned and said

"We have to get moving! They're gaining on us, with several fists worth of trollocs I saw flags with five different sigils so there are at least five bands! They'll be at this very spot before nightfall!"

"How could they possibly have brought that many trollocs this far south without anyone noticing?" Nynaeve demanded

"I don't know mistress and in case now is not the time to be sitting around wondering about it, we have to move."

"But where can we go to be safe from the many trollocs?" Perrin asked

"Tar Valon" Mat replied "remember that's where we've been heading this whole time?"

"How are we going to get there before the trollocs catch us?" Perrin countered

Moiraine seemed almost to sigh, if she were not Aes Sedai she likely would have "We must ride for Shadar Logoth, fortunately its' not that far from here." Before Rand had been barely paying attention the discussion around him, after all, he had no reason to be afraid of trollocs or fades and if they caught up to the group that would be a good thing, for the Shadow that is. But that all changed when Moiraine said they were going to Shadar Logoth.

He shot upright "Shadar Logoth, have you gone mad woman? Every single stone is tainted there is not a pebble that is safe to touch; all we will accomplish if we go there is that we will have moved from the cooking pot into the fire!" he exclaimed

"I know it is dangerous, but we have no choice. Shadar Logoth is filled with an evil that was designed to fight the Dark One. The shadow spawn know that and won't enter into Shadar Logoth unless they are forced to. So the shadow spawn might not follow us in there and even if they do, with a bit of luck the two evils will spend all their energy destroying each other and leave us alone." Moiraine explained

"Luck, you're telling us to hope we get LUCKY?" Rand shouted

"If you have a better plan, by all means share it" Lan said Rand glared at him but did not reply. After a moment Lan said "I thought not"

"Come we must get moving" Moiraine said

Rand responded "If you guys want to go and get yourselves killed, fine by me, but I am not going along." He turned around and began to walk away from them but before he had gone two steps he was forced to halt. He didn't need the goose bumps on his arms to know what was happening. Moiraine had bound him with flows of air. Having grown up as he did with a forsaken and several various Aes Sedai he used both the old and new terms pretty much interchangeably threads/flows, webs/weaves, it was all the same to him. Furious now, he seized _saidin_ and slashed away the threads holding him. Quickly before Moiraine could react he turned. Then he shielded her, snapping her connection to _saidar_ like a twig and then (using the one power) slammed her to the ground.

"Who do you think you are?" Rand growled out he noticed Lan coming toward him and quickly bound the warder with flows of air to make sure he couldn't do anything to help Moiraine. The others simply watched, frozen in shock and horror "What gives you the right to make my decisions for me?" Moiraine may have tried to reply but it was impossible to be sure because her face was in the dirt. "Let me make one thing perfectly clear, I am not some puppet you can just tie strings to and make it do whatever you want. You are messing with things far beyond your comprehension, and I strongly warn that if you meddle you will NOT like the consequences." He then used a thread of air to lift only Moiraine's head a bit so she could look up at him. "Be grateful" he added "the shield on you will dissipate by the time you reach Shadar Logoth if you decide to go through with this suicidal endeavor of yours, next time you might not be so lucky." Then he turned and quickly wove a gateway back to Thakan'dar and stormed through it.

Once he was gone Moiraine was finally able to stand and Lan could move again

"Moiraine are you all right?" Egwene asked worriedly "Did he hurt you?"

"No, nothing more than my pride" Moiraine responded although her tone was level, inside she felt a chill running down her spine. That boy could he be the one, the dragon reborn that she and Siuan had be searching all this time for, no he couldn't be…but, he was the right age and so strong in the one power, she was considered one of the strongest sisters in the Tower and yet he had cut her connection to _saidar_ with seemingly no effort at all. It might well take the full thirteen to shield and hold him. He could Travel as well and where had he gone, unfortunately she had not been able to get a very good look before the gateway disappeared but it seemed to be some ornate building (judging from the furnishings at least), like a fortress or maybe a palace of some kind, made out of black rock, she had never seen anything like it. One thing was certain of though, she would see that boy again and hopefully she would have a better idea of how to deal with him. "Come we need to get moving"

"But what about Rand?" Perrin asked

"Forget it, we have no idea where he went, besides it looks like he can take care of himself just fine." Mat replied

"Mat is right" Moiraine said "We'll just have to leave Rand on his own for now" although not permanently if Moiraine had anything to say about it. She had a lot of questions for that boy, although part of her suspected that she would not like the answers.

Rand arrived back in Thakan'dar and inwardly breathed a sigh of relief until he remembered he would have to face Ishamael. Then part of him began to wonder if it wasn't too late to go back and join the others in their trip to Shadar Logoth. He stood there for a little bit and then a voice from behind him said

"Where have you been?" Rand turned and saw Ishamael standing there, looking very angry.

"I thought maybe I had traced the Ta'veren to Baerlon but I wasn't certain so I went to investigate." Shaidar Aman explained. Ishamael had no time or patience for hunches or suspicions, he wanted real information and he wanted it right away and Shaidar Aman of course knew that.

"And that took you almost a whole day?" Ishamael asked skeptically

"Well, I did find them and then I wanted to see if I could learn some things about them so I stayed and tried to get to know them." Shaidar Aman answered

"and did you manage to get anything useful out of them?" Ishamael asked that sounded a lot like 'you better have not just wasted a whole day's worth of time'

"Some, the first thing you need to know is that they are heading for Shadar Logoth right now, they think the shadow spawn won't follow them in there." Shaidar Aman said

"They will if I tell them to." Ishamael growled after a brief pause he added "I have to go make sure that the Myrddraal and the Trollocs go after the Ta'veren but we are NOT done talking about this, wait here until I get back." Then he opened a gateway and left.

Shaidar Aman plopped himself into a comfortable chair in order to wait, he was still almost utterly exhausted. He couldn't be certain whether or not he had actually fallen asleep when a female voice startled him.

"Well, that's something I didn't expect to see."

To his chagrin, Shaidar Aman jumped slightly and then he turned and he almost felt like he forgot to breathe. Standing there in the doorway was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen (admittedly that was not saying too much, because he hadn't seen a whole lot of women but still) she was only a bit shorter than he was, with long black hair, deep blue eyes, and a white dress with a silver belt.

"Who are you?" Shaidar Aman asked

"Well, that's a bit rude is it not? Courtesy would suggest that you introduce yourself first but I am in a good mood today, so I'll humor you, my name is Lanfear." Lanfear replied. Shaidar Aman thought that her voice was as sweet to the ear as the draghkar's song but he managed to respond

"I am Shaidar Aman" desperately he tried to get a grip on himself. Ishamael told him everything he knew about the other chosen and above all he had stressed that Shaidar Aman could not trust any of them. He knew Lanfear would likely want to start a relationship with him because when the Great Lord had officially named Shaidar Aman as one of his chosen, he had also explained why he had given Rand the name Shaidar Aman which roughly translates to Dark Dragon, because his was the soul of the Dragon. Something that if Shaidar Aman was honest with himself, he still found a bit hard to believe. Of course, that depended on her knowing that as well but when Shaidar Aman said his name he thought he noticed a gleam in her eyes, but it was gone before he could identify what it meant.

"Well, it is a pleasure to meet you; Shaidar Aman…is Ishamael around?" Lanfear said

"No, he just left…I assume you only recently woke up." Shaidar Aman replied 'really is that the best I can come up with' he thought to himself

Lanfear smiled, a dazzling smile, "Very recently, only moments ago in fact, the Great Lord 'suggested' that I speak to Ishamael for information on what the world has been doing while I've been asleep, so what are you doing?"

"Waiting for him to come back, I spent the day gathering information on some Ta'veren." Shaidar Aman told her

"I see, well, in that case." Suddenly Shaidar Aman felt the tell tale goose bumps on his arm, as Lanfear channeled. Although he couldn't see the weaves, he did see a chair rise up and move next to the one he was sitting in and then drop back down to the floor. "I'll join you and while we wait, we can talk." Lanfear said

"About what?" Shaidar Aman asked, 'really what was the matter with him, he was acting like a complete fool'

"Oh, I don't know…whatever's on your mind" Lanfear replied as she sat down beside him

As Shaidar Aman looked at her and tried to figure out what to say, he found himself desperately hoping that Ishamael would come through that door and save him because he had finally something that was almost as scary as the Great Lord himself. A beautiful woman called Lanfear…he really wished he had just gone to Shadar Logoth.

Insane Winxy- glad you liked it

Aderran- I would like to but real life won't allow it at this point I'm sad to say


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

"So, tell me about yourself" Lanfear prompted

"Ah…well, there's really not much to say" Shaidar Aman responded. Growing up with Ishamael had taught him to be very careful with who gave information to; particularly information about himself. Besides for some inexplicable reason he seemed to be incapable of forming a complete sentence around her. (AN: Aww, poor Rand, he has no idea how to talk to a girl)

"I'm sure that's not true; otherwise you wouldn't be here. It's not just anybody that gets to come this close to the Pit of Doom. Not unless their prisoners to be tortured by the Myrddraal, which you're clearly not. So tell me" Lanfear replied and reached out to touch his arm. Once again Shaidar Aman found himself forgetting to breathe. Lanfear must have noticed because she gave him a comforting smile and said "Don't be nervous, I don't bite…unless you want me to, that is"

Shaidar Aman laughed nervously and then began "I grew up here, Ishmael found me on Dragonmount just after I was born"

"So you were born on the mountain then?" Lanfear interjected

Shaidar Aman nodded "Yes, I was"

"I see" Lanfear interjected. Briefly a predatory gleam appeared in her eyes but Rand didn't notice. He opened his mouth to continue with his story but a male voice stopped him before he even got started.

"Lanfear, what are you doing here?" Ishamael asked

Lanfear turned to look at him. She was very annoyed at the interruption, but not allowing it to show on her face "Waiting for you" she answered "The Great Lord instructed me to talk to you, in order to learn what the world has been doing while I and the others have been asleep."

Ishamael nodded. He'd expected it was something like that. Until recently, he had been ultimately responsible for pretty much everything the Shadow did. Not that he was complaining mind you, it was simply logical, he had been the only one of the Chosen active and free, so naturally he was the one in charge, under the Great Lord of course. Now that the others were starting to get free, maybe he'd be able to find a moment's peace…provided he wasn't forced to waste all his time keeping them from each other's throats…on second thought, he'd probably be even busier than ever, even if with Shaidar Aman helping him. Speaking of which, he looked over at his…charge and saw that he was completely worn out and so he said "go to bed, you look like you're going to collapse, we'll talk about your mission tomorrow" let Lanfear take that however she wanted to.

Shaidar Aman nodded "Yes sir" and got up and left the room

His feelings were a convoluted mess. On the one hand, he was grateful that father was letting him get some rest because he really needed it. On the other, he was dreading tomorrow's encounter, punishments that father delayed were always infinitely worse than ones he dealt immediately. Then there was Lanfear, why in the world had he been reduced to such a stammering fool when she entered the room. Sure she was beautiful, a blind man could see that, but why should that effect him like this and more importantly, how could he stop it from happening again? Lanfear was one of the Chosen; he needed his wits about him to deal with her. Despite all that, he still managed to flop on his bed and immediately fall asleep without even removing his clothes.

The next morning came too soon for Rand's liking. He groaned and he stretched out his arms. He seriously wanted to just roll over and go back to sleep but he couldn't it was time to face his father. He took off his slept in clothes from yesterday. As he was putting a clean set on, his stomach growled. He was really hungry, he hadn't gotten any supper last night. He hurried off to the dining chamber, hoping that father would be there…with some food.

When he arrived, he saw that father was there but no food, blood and bloody ashes.

"Sit" Ishamael commanded

Shaidar Aman wordlessly sat down at the other end of the table from his father

"Explain" Ishamael then said once Shaidar Aman had sat

"Well, father, like I told you yesterday. I thought I may have sensed the Ta'veren in Baerlon but I wasn't sure so I went to investigate."

"And you didn't just look and then come straight back because?" Ishamael asked

"I wanted to see if I could seem to befriend them, get to know them and their weaknesses" Shaidar Aman answered. It was the truth, but not the whole truth. Still he couldn't tell father the whole truth because he knew that father would only think it weakness; he was in enough trouble already.

Ishamael said nothing; he simply waited for Shaidar Aman to continue.

"I talked with them a while and when they left the city I followed them until they started going to Shadar Logoth."

"Elaborate" Ishamael instructed "what _exactly_ did you do?"

Rand somewhat reluctantly recounted the full story; although he neglected to mention the crazy lady he met in the stables, she wasn't important.

"I see" was Ishamael's only response. Then after what seemed like forever he added "Ta'veren, are always linked to one another, whether they realize it or not. I suspect that the wheel may try to use those to other Ta'veren to pull back onto the path it intended for you."

"But, I swore myself to the Great Lord, I-"Shaidar Aman began to protest but his father but him off

"Yes, the wheel can no longer compel you to do anything, but that won't stop it from trying. You must be mindful; it will try to catch you unaware. So trend lightly the next time you see those two. As for the Aes Sedai, needless to say you've surely caught her interest. Those fools always think themselves smarter and more powerful than they really are, maybe we can take advantage of that" Ishamael responded. Shaidar Aman could almost see the plot developing in his father's head.

"Now then, to the matter which I am sure you are most concerned with, your punishment-"

Shaidar Aman just barely managed to suppress a gulp

"I've decided to cancel your combat lessons for three weeks, you don't need them anyway." Ishamael said

Shaidar Aman was horrified. The combat lessons were the best part of his day and father knew that (which obviously was why that was his punishment) he would so much prefer to just be whipped a couple dozen times and be done with it. Instead, he would have to suffer for three weeks of total utter boredom (although giving orders to the dark friend circles wasn't all bad; the combat stuff was still by far the best part of his day).

"You can't do that. I'm eighteen years old; you can't tell me what to do anymore!" Shaidar Aman shouted

"You're right" Ishamael said tonelessly

"I, I am?" Shaidar Aman replied, having been utterly blindsided by that response

"Yes, you are eighteen years old. Which means I no longer have to clothe you, feed you, or give you a roof over your head; I can send you out there stark naked right this minute. Is that what you want?"

Shaidar Aman didn't say anything

"Is that what you want?" Ishamael repeated in a tone that demanded an answer

"No" Shaidar Aman replied softly

"Then while you are in my house, you will do what I say…is that understood?" Ishamael said

"Yes sir" Shaidar Aman responded

"And just for that little outburst, you've lost another week of combat training." Ishamael added

Shaidar Aman looked clearly about to protest again.

Ishamael raised an eyebrow with an expression that said 'do you really want to push me' and Shaidar Aman looked back done. Inwardly, Ishamael was satisfied with himself. He had taught Shaidar Aman how to resist torture, just in case the worst occurred and he got caught. So Ishamael knew that pain would not have worked well on him. No, taking away something the boy cared about was far more effective.

Just then the servants brought in their breakfast. For a while the two ate in silence. Towards the end of the meal Ishamael spoke

"Shaidar Aman, do you understand why I'm upset with you?"

"Because I left without telling you first" Shaidar Aman

"Well, yes that, but more importantly because you didn't have too" Ishamael relied

The boy just looked at him confused

"You're one of the Chosen, Shaidar Aman, you have a lot of responsibilities you cannot be everywhere at once, you have to learn what tasks you need to do yourself and what tasks you can delegate to others; you can't do it all yourself." Ishamael knew that; he spoke from experience "Do you understand that concept?"

"Yes, I'm just having difficulty putting it into practice" Shaidar Aman replied "I'll get better" he promised

"Make sure you do" Ishamael responded

After a couple of minutes they had both finished eating and Shaidar Aman asked "father, what am I supposed to do instead of combat training?"

"I'm glad you asked" Ishamael replied he didn't remotely look it though. "I have some books on Ta'veren I want you to read, they should prove most enlightening."

"Yes father" Shaidar Aman responded dutifully

"Then go, the Zomarran will show you where they are"

Shaidar Aman nodded and left the room, right behind one of the servants

AN: I know this is short but between technical failures, massive amounts of college work, trying to find a job, and frustrating writer's block; it's been very hard for me to get anything done at all. I figured anything was better than nothing at this point. That said I'm always open to comments and suggestions from my readers. So if any of you has some ideas or things you want to see happen, feel free to PM me or leave it a review whichever works for you. I promise to at least consider think about them. Also I know most author's notes are supposed to go at the beginning or the end of chapter but that comment about Rand not knowing how to talk to a girl was just BEGGING to be written; and if I hadn't put it where I did, it wouldn't have seemed right.

Kelwin- It always makes me happy when someone enjoys my work, I only hope you continue to enjoy the rest of the story too

Soulslayer32- Thanks, and Lanfear is definitely going to be trying very hard to get Rand but before he gets with any girl, he'll have to learn to talk one and that might take a while

PhonenixVenom- Constructive criticism is always appreciated, grammar has always been something that I struggle with but I am going to keep working on it. I'm glad you find the story interesting.

Bandgsecurtiyaw- I giggled when I wrote it too

Kythorian- Yes, it was not the wisest thing to do but bridges can be rebuilt. However, I would like to point out that he grew up hearing horror stories about Shadar Logoth and he panicked so his actions are understandable if nothing else. I honestly forgot about Moiraine needing to channel to get them to SL until you pointed it out, my bad there. Still I'm glad that you're enjoying the story despite my mistakes

Deadzepplin- Yes, it is tricky...confession, that's part of the reason it takes so long between updates, I have to figure out what should happen next and that's not easy.

Aderran- I will admit that there is part of me that felt Moiraine needed that, glad I'm not alone

Pump-Kin Cre'me Pi- I'm delighted that you're enjoying the story and I hope the wait between updates isn't too unbearable, I do the best I can


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Shadar Aman was leaning against a wall in one of the corridors thinking. It wasn't his favorite thing in the world; he preferred to do things instead of thinking about it but he wasn't sure what exactly he should do. Now that he was officially one of the Chosen, he no longer had academic lessons…not with his tutors anyway, sometimes father discussed things with him but that was different.

Anyway, he was distracted by the sound of raised voices. One he recognized immediately as his fathers' the other one he had difficulty placing. The voices were getting louder; obviously the people were coming closer, Shaidar Aman could not yet understand what they were saying but it seemed they were having some sort of argument. Then he identified the second voice, it belonged to Lanfear, at that point he decided that he would walk…in the opposite direction. He did not know what was going on but he could tell that he did not want to get involved. It wasn't because he was afraid of Lanfear or anything, certainly not…even though he still had not figured out why he had been so tongue-tied when they had met.

As he walked he continued thinking. Father had told him that it was very important to make sure the nations of the world could not and/or would not unite to face the shadow particularly now that the shadow was already preparing for the Last Battle. The Seanchan Empire was whole and fairly united but that was part of the plan; the idea was to let the Seanchan attack from the South and then while the people were busy fighting there, the shadow would invade from the north, when the Great Lord decided that the time was right, of course, and crush both. It was a basic divide and conquer strategy but who cared as long as it was effective? The Aiel spent most of their time fighting each other, so that was no concern. Shara had few trained warriors of any kind and thus was unlikely to pose much of a challenge so that only left the lands between the sea and the Spine of the World which Rand suspected would also be where the Shadow struck first, but it went without saying that the decision would be left to the Great Lord.

There were a lot of nations within that area and they fought a lot but they had shown that they could unite when threatened severely enough, something would have to been done about that. One of the few sources of authority which provided some semblance of unity was the White Tower and those so-called Aes Sedai. They were barely half-trained children but there were a lot of them, at least when compared to only fourteen Chosen. He didn't even bother thinking about the Black Ajah, they were no better than their non-black sisters. There was also the Children of the Light but they were oftentimes more divisive than unifying despite their leaders' (some of them anyway) best efforts. No, the White Tower was the group that needed to be dealt with, the only question was how?

Suddenly, it came to him, Logain. If the Tower failed to hold a false dragon after he had been captured, the nations would lose faith in the Tower. Although such a thing would not be enough to discredit the Tower completely it would be a major blow to them. Shadar Aman believed that it would most likely take multiple events to disgrace the White Tower so much that it became completely incapable of doing anything but it would be a good start. Plus, once freed Logain would likely start gathering followers and spreading violence again, not a bad thing for the Shadow, either. The only question was, whether or not Logain was strong enough to make it worth the effort to free him. Well, there was only one way to find out.

Quickly Shadar Aman spun a gateway to the outskirts of Caemlyn. The city was far more crowded that Baerlon had been. Not only was Caemlyn considerably larger than Baerlon, but there were also tons of people who had traveled to the city to see the false dragon. It was so crowded that Shaidar Aman was finding it very difficult to see anything except the back of the people right in front of him.

He tried to maneuver through the crowd to find a spot where he could take advantage of the fact that he was one of the tallest people around. Eventually he noticed a large wall of some sort, he could probably get a decent view from there and since everybody was trying to look at Logain, it was doubtful that anybody would even notice that he was there…besides as far as he could tell, there were no better options. It took a while but eventually he managed to maneuver his way through the crowd and to the base of the wall.

Upon closer inspection he noticed that the wall was covered with roses but he would not let mere flowers stop him. He began to climb the wall, almost immediately he cut his hand on a rose thorn but he continued on anyway, acquiring several more cuts in the process.

Eventually he reached the top of the wall and turned to look at Logain. He was nowhere near close enough to sense Logain's strength in the one power but he could tell just by looking that Logain was probably not worth the trouble of rescuing him. Looking at the self-proclaimed Aes Sedai (in actuality they were more like children dressing up in there parent's clothes if you asked him) he could tell that they were utterly bored and not the least bit concerned about their prisoner either attempting to escape or being rescued. If Logain's spirit was so weak to have been broken so easily, then there was no point in freeing him, because he if he was free the chances were that he would not do anything interesting anyway. Honestly, the man had to know that he was just a human trophy for the Aes Sedai to show off and yet the man was not only, not offering any sort of resistance to them but he was playing right into their hands. He tried to hold himself regally like a king, as if the cage holding him wasn't even there, but Shaidar Aman was not the least bit impressed; all he saw was a puppet on Aes Sedai strings, trying to pretend that he wasn't and not doing a very good job of it either. The crowd however was very impressed; wherever Logain looked they felt silent, awestruck by the false dragons…how pathetic, what a bunch of gullible simpletons. The procession continued with all sorts of banners and music and other things but Shadar Aman ignored them because they weren't worth his attention.

Shaidar Aman would have sighed disappointedly, if such an action had not been beneath his dignity that is, it had seemed like a good idea but oh well; he would simply have to think of something else.

"What are you doing up there?" a girl's voice said from behind him. Shadar Aman was startled, he glanced toward the voice and evidently that had been a mistake. He slipped and fell. Later he wouldn't be certain if he had blacked out or not. He didn't remember the actual fall, it seemed to him that he heard the girl's voice and the next minute he was lying in a patch of grass and he had a massive head ache. He also quickly discovered that he couldn't move his head very quickly or else his vision became all blurry.

Slowly he turned his head and saw that a boy and girl had climbed down from a nearby tree. He pretty much ignored the boy (even though the boy was fingering his dagger) and focused on the girl; she was very beautiful with blonde curly hair and dressed in very elaborate clothes. She made him feel nervous, much like Lanfear had only not quite as much…what was it about pretty girls that made him react like that? Both of them were looking at him like he was some sort of puzzle, that they had to solve, well go ahead and try, you will not succeed Shadar Aman thought.

Then the boy spoke "We will never hear the end of this, Elayne, if mother finds out. She told us to stay inside but you just had to have your look at Logain and now look what it has got us."

"Be quiet Gawyn" the girl, Elayne, ordered and somewhat surprisingly to Shadar Aman the boy did quiet himself although it was plain to see that he was not at all happy about it.

"Are you all right?" She asked Shadar Aman although it took him a moment to realize it.

"Yes, I'll be fine." He barely managed to stand but his legs desperately wanted to give way under him but he was determined not to let that happen. "I'll just –"but his legs gave way under him despite him stubbornly he got back up again "climb back over the wall." Again however his legs gave way under him

The girl put her hand on his shoulder and pressed down, and then he couldn't get up again.

"You _are _hurt" she said then she knelt beside him to examine the blood-soaked mess on the side of his head. "You must have struck a branch or two coming down. You'll be lucky if you didn't break more than your scalp. I've never seen anyone that could climb as well as you can, but you're not so good at falling."

"You'll get blood on you" Shadar Aman said, drawing back from her. He was getting suspicious in his experience no one ever helped anyone unless they got something for themselves out of it…what was she up too?

"Hold still" she ordered clearly expecting him to obey for some reason. "It does not look to bad, thank the light." Shadar Aman resisted the urge to roll his eyes, thanking the light was for fools. Elayne reached into her cloak pockets and took out a large number of vials and other tools used for healing in this primitive age.

"Give me your water flask Gawyn" she commanded "I need to wash this." The boy, Gawyn, unfastened a flask from his belt and handed it to her. Elayne took it and methodically began to wash his injuries. She held him gently but firmly telling him without words that she expected him to try and pull away again and she would not have any of it.

Once she'd cleaned a spot she put some sort of ointment on it and although the ointment did not remove the injury completely like the one power would have it did help the pain quite considerably. Shadar Aman found that he was impressed, despite himself. It was the first time he had ever been healed without the one power. Usually, when he got hurt father (actually more often one of the black Ajah sisters because father was not very good at healing) used the one power to heal him unless he'd gotten hurt doing something stupid in which case it was left to heal naturally to teach him a lesson.

Gawyn smiled at him, a calming smile meant to help soothe him. "She's always finding stray cats, birds with broken wings and other injured animals. You're the first human patient she has had to work on." A brief pause "Do not be offended, I am not calling you a stray." It did not sound like an apology

"No offense taken" Shadar Aman replied stiffly he wished that the two would stop treating him like a skittish horse

"She does know what she is doing, she had the best teachers. So do not fear, you are in good hands." Shadar Aman did not question the girl's abilities, not anymore at least, he questioned what she would want from him in exchange for this.

She took a very expensive looking cloth and began to wrap it around his head. Again Shadar Aman tried to pull away

"I told you to hold still" her tone was calm but her posture showed that she was beginning to get irritated with him...mostly likely for being stubborn

"Does she always expect everyone to do what she says?" Shadar Aman asked

Gawyn blinked in surprise "Most of the time yes, and most of the time they do." He answered "most people they do exactly what she says. Not mother of course, or Elaida and not Lini, Lini was her nurse; you can't give orders to someone which switched you for stealing figs when you were little, and even not so little" Shadar Aman highly doubted that but didn't speak while Elayne glared at Gawyn who hurried on "and Gareth of course. No one gives orders to Gareth."

"Not even Mother" Elayne added "she makes suggestions and he always does what he suggests but I have never heard her give him a command. Elayne shook her head

"I don't know why that always surprises you." Gawyn told her "even you don't try telling Gareth what to do. He's served three Queens and been Captain-General, and first Prince Regent, for two. I daresay that there are some people who think he's more a symbol of the throne of Andor than the Queen herself is. Rather abruptly Shadar Aman realized that he was in the garden of the Royal Palace and the people talking to him were the Daughter-heir and her brother. He could have kicked himself for not figuring it out sooner; he blamed his slowness on his head injury.

"Mother should go ahead and marry him" Elayne said absently "She wants to; she can't hide it from me and it would solve so many problems"

Gawyn shook his head "one of them has to bend first, mother cannot and Gareth will not."

"If mother commanded him…" Elayne trailed off but Gawyn carried on for her

"He would probably obey. But she won't and you know it."

"Your mother's the queen isn't she?" Shadar Aman asked

"You really didn't know?" Elayne asked "You mean you climbed the walls to look at Logain without even knowing where you were. You could have gotten a better view down in the streets."

Shadar Aman shook his head slowly so as not to get dizzy again "No milady, down in the streets, I couldn't see anything but the butt of the guy in front of me. That's why I decided to climb the wall in the first place. Elayne blinked she clearly was not used to having someone disagree with her. He stood and tried to remove the scarf

"Stop that, you'll start the bleeding again." She still sounded like she expected him to obey her.

"I have to go" he said "My lady, thank you for your care but if you'll pardon. I really should leave-"

"Without even telling us your name?" Gawyn asked "a poor payment for Elayne's care" 'ah there it is' Shadar Aman thought to himself "I've been wondering about you, you do not sound Andoran and you look like…well, you know our names courtesy would suggest you give us yours."

In truth, Shadar Aman couldn't care less about what was courteous or discourteous but if it would get them to leave him alone, he'd give them a name to call him by

"Rand, Rand a'Calian" he told them

"And where are you from Rand?" Elayne asked curiously

"Waterroot's Falls, it's a small village in northern Altara." He actually had no idea if there was a village by that name in Altara but he assumed that they wouldn't know either

"To the west" Gawyn muttered "very far to the west

"What's this?" a new voice interjected "Stand away from him Elayne and you two Gawyn"

"He's a who, not a what." Elayne said irritably "his name is Rand and he is under my protection, Galad"

Galad, if Rand recalled correctly, was Elayne's half brother

"I am aware of your fondness for strays Elayne but this fellow hardly looks reputable. These days we cannot be too careful, why is here where he does not belong?" Galad responded

Galad's opposition seemed to increase Elayne's determination "He is here as my guest, Galad and I vouch for him, or have you appointed yourself my nurse, to decide whom I may speak to and when?" she said scornfully but Galad seemed unaffected

"I make no claim of control over your actions, Elayne…but this guest of yours does not seem proper and you know that as well as I. Our mother would-"Elayne cut him off

"Enough! You are right, you have no say over my actions, nor have you any right to judge them. You may leave me. Now!" Galad exchanged looks with Gawyn just as Elayne opened her mouth again Galad bowed smoothly and left

"I hate him" Elayne breathed "He is vile and full of envy."

"There you go too far, Elayne" Gawyn said "Galad does not know the meaning of envy. Twice he has saved my life with none to know if he held his hand. If he had not, he would be your first Prince of the Sword in my place."

"Never, Gawyn. I would choose anyone before Galad, even the lowest stable boy." Shadar Aman wondered what the boy had done to earn such hatred from his half sister suddenly Elayne smiled a beautiful smile "You say I am fond of giving orders, then I command you to let nothing happen to you. I command you to be my First Prince of the Sword when I take the throne of Andor-the light send that day is far off- and to lead the armies of Andor with the sort of honor Galad cannot dream of."

"As you command my lady." Gawyn smiled and gave a bow that was parody of Galad's

"I really should get going." Rand said

"Yes and quickly." Gawyn added "Galad always does what is right even when he shouldn't. In this case, finding a stranger in the Gardens, the right thing is to tell the Palace guards. Which I suspect he is on his way to do right now."

"Then I'll go back over the wall" rand said but Elayne caught his arm

"Not after the trouble I went to with your hands. You'll only make fresh cuts and then let some back-alley crone put the Light knows what on them. There is a small gate on the other side of the garden. It's overgrown, no one but me even remembers it's there." She was interrupted by the sound of pounding boots

"Too late" Gawyn muttered "he must have started running as soon as he was out of eyeshot." Shadar Aman did not bother to make for the wall; he knew he would not make it before the guards showed up. They did not have very long to wait, the guards arrived almost immediately. Elayne and Gawyn both jumped up and held their arms high between him and the bows.

"My lady, my lord, down quickly" one of the officers said

"You dare bring bare steel into my presence Tallanvor?" Elayne said drawing herself up regally "Gareth Bryne will have you mucking stables with the meanest trooper for this, if you are lucky!" the soldiers exchanged puzzled looks and somewhat reluctantly half-lowered their weapons

Tallanvor (Rand assumed) spoke "My lady, forgive me. Lord Galaderid reported a dirty peasant skulking in the gardens armed and endangering my Lady Elayne and my Lord Gawyn." His voice hardened as his gaze turned on Rand "If my Lady and my lord will please step aside, I will take the villain into custody. There is far too much riff-raff in the city these days."

"I doubt Galad reported anything like that." Elayne snapped back "Galad does not lie."

"Sometimes I wish he would" Gawyn muttered "might make living with him a little easier

Elayne continued as if her brother hadn't spoken "he is here as my guest, you may withdraw Tallanvor"

"I regret that will not be possible my Lady." Although his expression displayed anything but regret "as My Lady knows, the Queen, your lady mother, has given orders regarding anyone on Palace grounds without her Majesty's permission, and word has been spent to Her Majesty of this intruder. Rand suspected that the officer had more than once been forced to obey a command he deemed improper and was thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to refuse to obey one because he had a perfectly good excuse.

Rand glanced at Gawyn and Gawyn told him softly "Prison" he hurried on "but only for a few days, and you will not be harmed. You will be questioned by Gareth Bryne personally, but you will be set free once it's clear you mean no harm. I hope you told the truth, Rand a'Calian from Waterroot's Falls" inwardly Shadar Aman scoffed; he would never allow that to happen. For now though, he restrained himself; he had been lectured numerous times about not drawing any more attention that absolutely necessary. Admittedly he'd done a very poor job of that so far but he had not been forced into revealing himself to be anything but an ordinary young man yet and he would keep it that way until the last possible moment.

Elayne drew herself up regally "You will conduct all three of us to my mother" she announced and Gawyn grinned

Taken aback Tallanvor tried to protest "My Lady I-"but Elayne cut him off and continued

"Or else conduct all three of us to a cell. We will remain together or will you give orders for hands to be laid upon my person?" Shadar Aman was impressed despite himself, the daughter-heir thought quickly on her feet it seemed.

"Mother is viewing Logain" Gawyn told him in voice that although to soft for any of the guardsmen to hear was yet not quite soft enough to be called a whisper. "and even if she was not busy, Tallanvor would never dare troop into her presence with Elayne and me as if _we_ were under guard, Mother has a temper sometimes." Compared to what Shadar Aman had heard about Morgase that was an understatement. Just then a messenger arrived he spoke softly to Tallanvor who adopted a very satisfied expression that Rand did not believe boded well for them.

''The Queen, your lady mother" Tallanvor announced "commands me to bring the intruder to her immediately. It is also the queen's command that my Lady Elayne and my Lord Gawyn attend her also immediately." He was quite smug about it too. Shadar Aman found it very difficult to resist the urge to wipe that insufferable smirk of the puffed-up errand-boy's face.

"If my lady pleases, my Lord" Tallanvor prodded and his men formed a ring around them, their gazes focused on Rand almost daring him to try something. Rand rolled his eyes, if he wanted to do something none of them would have a chance of stopping him but for now he was willing to let the situation play out.

They had not walked very far before Rand abruptly realized that the plants around them were all green and in bloom despite the horrid weather conditions. He began mentally berating himself for being so unaware of his surroundings, he was one of the Chosen such carelessness, could very well lead him to death or worse!

Apparently something must have shown on his face because Gawyn said "The plants are Elaida's work."

"Doesn't she have better things to do than waste her energy on a bunch of useless plants?" Rand asked, he hadn't even met the woman and yet he was already beginning to dislike her. Besides he wasn't an aesthetic person, flowers were completely uninteresting to him…unless they were poisonous or something. The men began to mutter but a sharp command from Tallanvor silenced them

"It's wrong" Elayne said "She asked if I wanted to pick out the one farm she could do the same for, while all around it crops still failed, but it still isn't right for us to have flowers when some Andorans do not have enough to eat." Rand agreed with her it was wrong but not for any silly moral reasons, but for practical political ones. If it became known that the crown had decided that one farm in all of Andor would have crops given to it by virtue of the one power it could very easily trigger anger and resentment among the farmers who had not received such a gift, one of the first things he had learned about politics was to 'befriend' more people than you anger, this was the exact opposite strategy, it was bad politics. Whoever had come up with that idea was an idiot.

"Remember yourself" Elayne told Rand briskly "Speak up clearly, when you are spoken to, and keep silent otherwise. And follow my lead, all will be well." I don't need your help Rand thought irritably. Eventually they stopped before a rather ornate room but it was not the most ornate one in the palace

"At least it isn't the Grand Hall" Gawyn laughed unsteadily "I never heard that Mother ordered anyone's head cut off from here." Somehow that didn't help Rand's mood

"First Rank to accompany me" Tallanvor commanded "Announce the Lady Elayne and the Lord Gawyn to her Majesty also Guardsman-Lieutenant Tallanvor, at her Majesty's command with the intruder under guard."

Elayne glared at Tallanvor but there was nothing she could do about the doors were already opening and their arrival was being announced. Inside the room there Rand saw Queen Morgase sitting regally on her throne, next to her was a man he assumed was Captain-General Gareth Bryne. Just behind the throne there was woman with a seemingly ageless face, sitting on a stool working on some needlework, her face identified her as the Queen's advisor Elaida. The guardsmen knelt in front of the Queen while Rand settled for an awkward bow. Now of course, he knew how to do one smoothly but he did not want to seem too polished, after all he was supposed to be a farmer, his father had taught him that when people tried to pretend be something they were not it was often the little details that revealed the truth so Rand bowed awkwardly to play his part. He had briefly considered kneeling with the guardsmen but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"You may rise" The queen said

"Mother-"Elayne began

"You have been climbing trees, it seems daughter." Elayne tried to pluck some bark from her dress but Morgase continued on, ignoring her movements "in fact it would seem that despite my orders to the contrary, you have contrived to have your look at this Logain. Gawyn, I have thought better of you. You must learn not only to obey your sister but to be a counterweight for her against disaster." She glanced at Bryne "that Gawyn, is as much the duty of the First Prince of the Sword as leading the armies of Andor. Perhaps if your training is intensified, you will find less time for letting your sister lead you into trouble. I will ask the Captain-General to make sure you do not lack for things to do on your journey north." Ah, so it seemed Elayne would soon be off to train at the White Tower as per Andoran custom.

Elayne grimaced "Mother, Gawyn cannot keep me from danger if he is not with me. It was for that reason and that reason alone that he left his rooms. Mother, surely, there can be no harm in just looking at Logain. Almost everyone in the city was closer to him than we were." Rand began to wonder if he should reconsider his initial assessment of the daughter-heir; did she really think that tired old argument would do her any good?

"Everyone in the city is not the Daughter-heir" Morgase replied sharply "I have seen this fellow Logain from close, and he is dangerous child." Rand began to think Morgase should be sitting on the chicken throne instead of the lion throne, Morgase continued on "Caged, with Aes Sedai to guard him every minute, he is still as dangerous as a wolf." Oh brother, Rand thought wolves tried to avoid people, they weren't very dangerous unless you did something stupid, but then again…there were some very stupid people in this world.

"I wish he had never been brought near Caemyln" Was Morgase the queen of Andor or the queen of drama, because right now Rand wasn't sure.

"He will be dealt with in Tar Valon" Elaida said though she continued knitting "What is important is that the people see that the Light has once again vanquished the Dark and they see you as part of that victory, Morgase." It took every bit of self control that Rand had not to scoff openly; as if that pathetic excuse for a channeler has any connection at all to the Shadow…we do have certain standards, after all.

Morgase waved her hand dismissively and said "I still would prefer that he had never been brought near Caemlyn. Elayne, I know your mind"

"Mother" Elayne tried to protest "I do mean to obey you. Truly I do"

"You do?" Morgase asked in mock surprise but then she chuckled "Yes, you do try to be a dutiful daughter but you constantly test how far you may go. Well, I did the same with my mother. That spirit will serve you well when you ascend to the throne. But you are not Queen yet, child. You have disobeyed me and had your look at Logain, be satisfied with that. On the journey north you will not be allowed within 100 paces of him, neither you nor Gawyn, if I did not know how hard your lessons will be in Tar Valon, I would send Lini along to make sure you obey. She at least, seems to be able to make you do as you must."

Elayne hung her head and Elaida spoke again

"in one week, you will want to come back home to your mother. In one month you will want to run away with the Traveling People. But my sisters will keep you away from the unbeliever, that sort of thing is not for you yet." Rand didn't get why any man that could channel was referred to as an unbeliever? Did these ignorant primitives not realize that the Light and the Creator were not active powers in this world, that people's fates were entirely dependent upon an utterly uncaring and pitiless wheel unless they accepted the Great Lord as their master?

"You have it in you to be the greatest Queen that Andor has seen in more than a thousand years. It is for that we will you, if you have the strength for it." What a pompous little speech, Rand thought, he also began to believe that this 'Aes Sedai' was the most arrogant person he had ever met, and there was a lot of competition for that title. He was also being struck with a powerful urge to put her in her true place.

"Enough Elaida, she was heard that more than enough. The wheel weaves as the wheel wills" Rand really hated that phrase, maybe it was because he had heard it so often growing up, even Black Ajah sisters tossed that phrase around like a farmer sows his crops. "Now there is the problem of this young man and how and why he came here and why you claimed guest-right for him to your brother." Morgase said suddenly Elaida spoke

"The Dark One stirs in Shayol Ghul. The Shadow lies across the pattern, and the future is balanced on the point of a pin. This one is dangerous."

Just as suddenly and unexpectedly Elayne threw herself onto her knees before the throne

"Mother, I beg of you not to harm him." she pleaded "He would have left immediately had I not stopped him. He wanted to go; it was I who made him stay. I cannot believe he is a Darkfriend" He was in fact, much more than a mere Darkfriend, but Elayne was not to know that. Morgase made a soothing gesture towards her daughter but her focus remained on Rand

"Is this a foretelling Elaida? Are you reading the Pattern? You say it comes when you least expect it and goes just as suddenly. If this is a Foretelling I command you to the truth clearly, without your usual habit of wrapping it in so much mystery that no one can tell if you have said yes or no, Speak. What do you see? "

Good luck with that Rand thought skeptically Foretelling was mysterious by nature, so much so, that it was hardly worth all the trouble people went through trying to make sense of it.

"This I foretell' Elaida said "and swear under the Light that I can say no clearer. From this day Andor marches toward pain and division. The Shadow has yet to darken its blackest and I cannot see if the Light will come after. Where the world has wept one tear, it will weep thousands. This I Foretell." There was utter silence throughout the room as Elaida continued "This too I Foretell. Pain and division come to the whole world and this man stands at the heart of it. I obey the Queen and speak it clearly."

Rand was unable to hold his tongue any longer "Really, you call that speaking clearly? That was about as clear as a mud puddle. A charlatan from a traveling show could do better."

"Do not speak of what you do not understand, _boy_" Elaida's tone was icy cold but the glare she directed at Rand was hot enough to melt steel. "I suggest you learn to hold your tongue in the presence of your betters…if you know what's good for you."

"Don't tell me you actually think that _you_ are one of my 'betters'? You are a disgrace; you're less than the meanest pig." Rand countered

The whole room was staring at him, no one had _ever_ spoken to Elaida like that and none of them had any idea how she would react.

"I think it's time some taught you the proper respect due Aes Sedai" Elaida snarled and then Rand felt himself being lifted up by flows of air.

That did it, if there was going to be any manhandling here then he was going to be the one to do. He quickly bound everyone but Elaida with one large flow of air. While Elaida turned his body a bit, she clearly intended to switch him right then and there but Rand was not going to let that happen.

First he slashed away the threads holding him and fell back to the floor, just barely managing to avoid falling on his butt. Then before Elaida could recover from the shock of having her flows cut, he slammed a shield between her and the true source. Soon after he wove some flows of air himself and slammed her to the floor, hard enough to make her grunt.

"Actually you're the one who's going to be taught a lesson. You're going to learn not to annoy people more powerful than you are." He shook his head although Elaida couldn't see it. "Look at you, you _dare_ call yourself an Aes Sedai, you're no Aes Sedai, you're just a spoiled brat playing dress-up with her mother's clothes!" He wasn't entirely sure why, but it seemed everything about Elaida from her pompous, arrogant attitude to her ugly green dress bothered him right then. He was sorely tempted to sever her right then and there, but unfortunately he felt that would draw too much attention…fortunately however, there were other options.

First he altered the shield (and inverted the web as well) so that most of it would fade away over time but she would never be able to channel at the full strength she had once had and he added a couple of minor compulsions. The most important was one that would prevent her from speaking of this incident to anyone and would give her a very nasty headache if she so much as thought about trying to tell someone. The other was quite petty to be honest but he was really angry right then, it was a compulsion that would prevent her from ever holding another stupid knitting needle ever again because that sound was really annoying.

The others he wove a web that would alter their memory. Human memories were not set in stone; they were fluid and changed over time. They could also be altered if one knew how. If Rand had been thinking straight he would have done something similar with Mat and the others but oh well, it wasn't that important. He made it so they simply remembered him as an innocent farm boy who had accidently wondered where he wasn't supposed to. They would also remember that Morgase had determined that he meant no harm and had let him go and then he wove a gateway and returned to the Blight.

AN: I know that it has been forever since my last update so I made this chapter extra long to try and make it up to you all. Also I tried this method of responding to reviews out on one of my other stories and found that it worked pretty well and I will go back and respond to the people who reviewed previous chapters once I find the time.

Aderran- I hope this chapter satisfies you even though Elaida is just too infuriating a woman to be dismissed as a mere gnat and I'm glad you found the previous chapter interesting, I hope the next ones will interest you too.


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